The Flag of the Bahamas

The Bahamas gained their independence from Britain in 1973, and they adopted the first independent Bahamas flag that year. Even though it was the first and only flag to represent the islands as an independent nation, it was not the first flag that they had ever used. It replaced the colonial flag of the Bahamas, which has a significantly different design than the Bahamas flag that is currently in use. The modern flag is one of the few national flags in the world to have been designed specifically for the nation before the country actually attained its independence.

The black equilateral triangle on the left represents the unity and determination of the people of the Bahamas. The triangle is oriented toward three equal-width stripes symbolizing areas of natural resource; two aquamarine stripes at the top and bottom of the flag representing the sea and one gold stripe representing the land. The flag was adopted on July 10, 1973.

Capital of the Bahamas: Nassau

Area of Bahamas: 10,070 sq. km

Languages used in Bahamas: English (official), Creole

Religions in the Bahamas: Baptist, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Church of God, Methodist

The Colonial Flag of the Bahamas

The colonial flag of the Bahamas was a British blue ensign defaced with the colony's seal, which displayed the colony's motto below a picture of two pirate ships fleeing from the British navy. The flag was designed in honor of the British sailors who hunted pirates from the Bahamas during the colony's early history. It dates back to the middle of the 19th century, but it did not receive government approval until 1964, when the colony received significantly more autonomy from the British government.

The Modern Bahamas Flag

The Bahamas began to negotiate their independence less than a decade after that, and it began to search for a new design for the Bahamas flag at the same time. The government held a competition to pick the new design, but in the end it did not select any of the entries that it had received. The government chose to create a Bahamas flag that combined aspects of several different submissions. That final design was a black triangle at the hoist combined with a horizontal band of yellow between two horizontal bands of aquamarine. The flag first flew on July 10, 1973, which was the first day of the new nation's independence.